Fly-paper holder



(No Model.)

J. H. SMITH. FLY PAPER HOLDER.

' No. 491,860. Patented Feb. 14,1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAY HUNGERFORD SMITH, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

FLY-PAPER HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 491,860, dated February14, 1893.

Application filed October 27, 1892 Serial No. 450,097. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it knownthatI, J AY HUNGERFORD SMITH, a citizen of theUnited States,residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Fly-Paper Holders, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a new and improved devicewhich can be collapsed or folded into compact form for shipping withsheets of sticky fly-paper, or otherwise transported in a comparativelysmall space, and is susceptible of being extended or unfolded to form asquare, rectangular, or similar angular shaped frame which can beapplied to the border, edges or margin of the sticky field and therebysecured in place, for holding the sheet of fly-paper ina flat condition,retainingit in proper position on a table or other support, preventingthe paper from curling at the ends or sides and from blowing or turningover, and also preventing the sticky material from spreading or runningfrom the paper, while serving as an obstruction or bar to fliesendeavoring to crawl over the edge portions of the sticky field or coat-The invention also has for its object to provide a novel holder whichcan be applied to a sheet of sticky fly-paper for holding it in a flatcondition, the construction being such that a plurality of sheets offly-paper, each having one of the holders, can be arranged in astack orcolumn to occupy a small space until required for distribution on tablesor other places-without danger of the sticky fields of the sheets comingin contact and adhering together.

The invention also has for its object to provide a novel center supportadapted to be placed on the sticky field of a sheet of fiy-paperprovided with the improved holder, whereby the central portions of thesheets will be sustained or supported when stacked or arranged one abovethe other. These objects are all accomplished in the manner and by themeans hereinafter described and claimed, reference being made to theaccompanying draw- 'ings, in which 5 I the center support being alsoarranged in p01 sition on the sticky field. Fig. 2, is a detailperspective view showing the holder partially collapsed or folded. Fig.3, is a similar view showing the holder folded for transportation orstorage. Fig. 4, is adetail perspective view of the center support in afiat condition for transportation or storage, the flange portion beingindicated by dotted lines, as standing at right angles to the bodyportion; and Fig. 5, is a similar view showing the center support inposition for application to the sticky field.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to make and use my inventionI will now describe the same in detail, referring to the drawingswherein The numerals 1, 2 and 3 indicate the body portion or frame ofthe improved holder. For convenience in describing the invention I willterm the parts 1 the end pieces, and the parts 2 and 3 the side pieces.The end pieces 1 may be unbroken from end to end and at their loweredges are provided with flanges 4:,

connected thereto by joints or flexible connections 5 of any suitableconstruction. The side pieces are each composed oftwo sections 2 and 3having flanges 6, and connected together by a joint 8, and alsoconnected with the end pieces 1 by joints 9. The flanges 6 are connectedwith the side pieces 2 and 3 by means of joints 10. The joints 5, 8, 9and 10 may be of any construction which will permit the parts to becollapsed or folded as will hereinafter appear, but as illustrated inthe drawings these joints are formed by creases produced in the materialof which the holder is composed.

In practice the holder is made from paper, cardboard, or any similarmaterial which can be creased to produce the joints. I wishit to beunderstood, however, that the holder may be composed of any materialsuitable for the conditions required and the joints may be of any knownconstruction.

I prefer the construction exhibited in the drawings in that it is verysimple, efficient and economical and enables the devices to begratuitously distributed with sticky fly paper now in the market.

When the holder or frame is extended or unfolded and the severalflanges. are turned laterally to stand approximately at right angles tothe end and side pieces, these flanges can be placed upon the adhesiveborder, edge or margin of the sticky field of a sheet of fly paper sothat the flanges will thus be secured in position and the holder orframe will surround the sticky field. By this means the sheet of stickyfly paper will have the appearance of a shallow box, the edges of whichstand upright about three-eighths of an inch, more or less. The holdereffectually holds the sheet of fly paper in'a flat condition and retainsit in proper position so that the edges or sides are prevented fromcurling or turning up. The holder also retains the paper in suchposition that it is not liable to blow or turn over and further theholder prevents the sticky material from spreading or running from thepaper, and also serves as an obstruction or bar to flies endeavoring tocrawl from the edge portions of the sticky field. The improved holder isalso advantageous when it is desired to stack sheets of sticky fly-paperin a column to occupy a small space until required for use. For example,when fly-paper is employed in large hotels it is liberally distributedabout the dining room and at meal time it is desirable to remove thepaper. By applying one of the improved holders to each sheet of flypaper the latter can be arranged in a stack or column to occupy a smallspace until required for distribution. In arranging the sheets of paperin a stack or column in the manner alluded to, it is desirable tosupport the central portions of the sheets so that the sticky fieldswill not likely come in contact and adhere together. To accomplish thispurpose I provide a center support composed of strips 12 and 13 Figs. 4.and 5 having flanges 14, and connected bya joint 15 which may be formedby creasing the material or in any other manner. The strip when not inuse is in the flat condition exhibited by full lines Fig. 4, but when itis desired to employ the center support, the strips 12 and 13 are turnedon the joint 15 so that they stand approximately parallel as in Fig. 5,and the flanges 14 are spread laterally to stand approximately at rightangles to said strips. The center support is then applied to the stickyfield of the fly paper at or near the center thereof as in Fig. 1, sothat when a plurality of sheets of fly paper are arranged in a stack orcolumn the central portions of all the sheets will be properly sustainedand effectually prevented from coming in contact and adhering together.

The simplicity of my improved holder and the economy by which it can bemanufactured, render it possible to gratuitously distribute the holderswith the fly paper, and the construction of the holder is such that itcan be folded into a small space and thus be effectually shipped ortransported with the fly paper or otherwise as may be desired.

When the fly paper becomes filled with flies the holder can be readilyremoved by slightly warming thepaper and subsequently the same holdercan be employed on a fresh sheet of fly paper. The holder can be made ata singie stroke of a die to form a creased strip and is finished bysimply gluing or otherwise connecting the ends of the strip together.

The holder can be employed on any sheet of sticky fly paper by havingthe flanges at and 6 made snfflciently wide to provide the requisitesurface for contact with the margin of the ordinary fly catching field.

By my invention I provide a fly paper holder which can be readilycollapsed or folded for convenience of shipment and also convenientlyextended or unfolded for convenient application to the fly paper. Inthis respect my invention possesses many ad vantages over a rigid frameapplied to a support on which the ordinary sheet of fly paper is placed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a holder for preserving asheet of fly paper in a flat, condition while the sticky field isexposed in use, consisting of substantially vertical end pieces andsimilar side pieces jointed to the extremities of the end pieces andalso jointed intermediate their jointed ends to fold inward toward eachother between the said end pieces and thus bring the latter together,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. A fly paper holder, consisting of end pieces and side pieces havingflanged lower edges and jointed together and also jointed to the endpieces, whereby the holder can be collapsed or folded into asubstantially flat condition and subsequently extended or unfolded andby the said flanges caused to adhere to the border, edge or margin ofthe sticky field of the fly paper, substantially as described.

3. A fly-paper holder, consisting of end pieces and side pieces jointedto the end pieces and also jointed intermediate their ends to foldinward toward each other so that the end pieces are brought closetogether, the parts having lateral flanges at their lower edges toprovide extended surfaces which can be caused to adhere to the adhesiveborder, edge or margin of the sticky field of the fly paper, for thepurpose of securing the holder and holding the fly paper in a flatcondition, substantially as described.

4. A fly paper holder, consisting of a flexible jointed framecollapsible into a substantially flat condition and provided at thelower edges with laterally projecting flanges jointed to said side andend pieces, substantially as described.

5. A fly paper holder, consisting of end pieces 1 and side pieces 2jointed to the extremities of the end pieces and also jointedintermediate their ends to fold inward toward each other, said sidepieces being provided with laterally projecting flanges 6 jointsheet offly paper, substantially as and for the [0 ed thereto and adapted to beturned substanpurpose described.

tially into the plane of the side pieces for 001- In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto-set lapsing the holder into a flat condition, submy handand aflixed my seal in presence of 5 stantially as described. twosubscribing witnesses.

6. A fly paper holder composed of the j0int- JAY HUNGERFORI) SMITH. [L.s] ed, collapsible frame, and the center support Witnesses: composed ofjointed strips having base flanges HIRAM R. WOOD,

adapted to be applied to the sticky field of a I EMILY M. DECKER.

